Deformable tube crimping and reforming tool

ABSTRACT

THIS TOOL INCLUDES A BARREL MEMBER AND A SHAFT MEMBER SLIDABLY MOUNTED THEREIN. EACH SUCH MEMBER HAS A TUBE REFORMING DIE AND A TUBE CRIMPING JAW EXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARD, WITH THE DIES EXTENDING IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION THAN THE JAWS. ASSOCIATED DIES AND JAWS ARE HELD IN SLIDABLE ALIGNMENT WITH EACH OTHER, WHILE BEING FORCED TOGETHER BY COMMONLY COUPLED CLOSING MEANS BY PROVIDING THAT THE SHAFT CARRIED CRIMPING JAW SLIDABLY EXTENDS THROUGH AND IS GUIDED BY A LONGITUDINAL SLOT IN THE BARREL MEMBER WALL IN THE PLANE OF THE BARREL CARRIED CRIMPING JAW.

March 9, 1971 E E T AL 3,568,496

DEFORMABLE TUBE CRIMPING AND REFORMING TOOL Filed m 1, 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Wallace C. Burke, Don P. Throne, INVENTORS.

ATTORNEY.

March 9, 1971 w c, BURKE ET AL 3,568,496

DEFOBMABLE TUBE 'CRIMPING AND REFORMING TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May1., 1969 Wol Ioce C Burke,

'Don P. Throne, INVENTORS.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,568,496 DEFORMABLE TUBE CRIMPING AND REFORMINGTOOL Wallace C. Burke, 911 Melissa St. 90502, and Don P.

Thrane, 21009 Ann Rita Ave. 90503, both of Torrance, Calif.

Filed May 1, 1969, Ser. No. 820,857 Int. Cl. B21j 11/00 US. Cl. 72-404 7Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Combination deformable fluid carryingtube shut-off and re-opening tools are well known in the art. Since theuse of soft metal tubes and tubes fabricated from other deformablematerial, it has become an ever-increasing practice to temporarily stopthe flow of fluid in such tubes or pipes by squeezing a limited area ofthese conduits. Later, when the flow is again desired, the squeezed areais again squeezed but in an orthogonal direction.

The advantage of being able to provide a temporary shut-01f of pipingshould be obvious. For example, it is frequently desirable to shut off afuel or water line at a point downstream from the main shut-off valve.This allows work to be done on a particular line without alfecting otherlines controlled by the same valve.

Over the years, several techniques have been developed to provide thedesired temporary shut-off function described above. These tools havetaken the form of rather complicated and cumbersome mechanicalarrangements comprising many parts and means for adjustment. Because ofthis disadvantageous complexity and cumbersomeness, it has been foundthat many potential users of usch tools hesitate in using thistechnique. For example, some prior art devices utilize at least twoadjustment nuts to perform the clamping function and a reverse of thesenuts to release the tube and reverse the die surfaces beforere-tightening the nuts in order to reform the tube.

Another device includes a single centrally-located adjustment boltdisposed between two longitudinal guide pins that extend through severallayers of dies and which requires complete disassembly for the crimpingand reforming operation.

Still another tool used is in the form of a large C-clamp in which oneside wall carries a rotatable die, and a boltcarried adjustable jawmember carrying a second rotatable die is moved toward and away from thefirst'mentioned die by rotating the threaded belt that passes through asuitable threaded aperture in the opposite side wall. In order tomaintain the bolt-mouned die in alignment with the side wall mounteddie, a longitudinal guide pin is required which is slidably held in theopposite side wall of the C-clamp structure and fixed-mounted in thebackside of the adjustable jaw member. This type tool has the furtherdisadvantage of requiring the manipulation of locking means to preventrotation of the dies when pressure is being applied to a tube or pipe.In operation, it has also been found that the use of longitudinal guidepins leads to undesirable binding in the sliding surface Patented Mar.9, 1971 ice area and also allows some detrimental twisting of theadjustable jaw member and thereby produces a misalignment of the dies.From the foregoing description of the prior art, it should be evidentthat a tool adapted to perform the desired crimping and reformingoperations, that is small and lightweight and that has few parts andadjustments and which has no misalignment problems would constitute asignificant advancement of the art.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved deformable tube crimping and reforming tool that does not havethe disadvantages of the prior art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a relativelysmall, compact and lightweight deformable tube crimping and reformingtool.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a simple toconstruct and manipulate deformable tube crimping and reforming tool.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a deformable tubecrimping and reforming tool that utilizes a simple yet effective methodof maintaining die and crimping jaw alignment in all three axes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a deformabletube crimping and reforming tool that incorporates a selectablypositioned handle assembly for ease of operation under variedaccessibility conditions.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a noveldeformable tube crimping and reforming tool that may include a hydraulicdie and jaw closing means.

These and other objects of the present invention are obtained in adeformable tube crimping and reforming tool according to one embodimentof the invention comprising a barrel member having opposite first andsecond ends and having an inner reforming die adjacent the first end andextending radially outward therefrom in a first plane and also having aninner crimping jaw spaced from the same end and extending radiallyoutward in a second plane. The barrel member further includes a slot inthe wall thereof, the slot being in the second plane and extending fromthe first end to the inner crimping jaw. A shaft member is slidablymounted in the barrel member and has opposite third and fourth ends andan outer reforming die adjacent the third end and extending radiallyoutward therefrom in the first plane. The shaft member also has an outercrimping jaw extending radially outward in the second plane of the outerdie; the outer jaw being extended through and slidably guided by theslot in the barrel member. Further, closing means is coupled to thesecond end of the barrel member and to the fourth end of the shaftmember for forcing the barrel member and the shaft member to slide inrelationship to each other in a direction lessening the distance betweenthe dies and the jaws.

The tool may also incorporate handle means including an indexing collarassembly slidably mounted over the second end of the barrel member forholding the tool in a desired relationship to the deformable tube.

In order to increase ease of use of the tool incorporating the basicfeatures of the invention, the tool may include a hydraulic actuatorassembly having a housing and a fluid actuated piston. The housing maybe coupled to the second end of the barrel member and the piston may becoupled to the fourth end of the shaft member to provide a hydraulicboosted closing force between the barrel and shaft members.

The invention and specific embodiments thereof will be describedhereinafter by way of example and with reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements or partsand in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a deformable tube crimping and reformingtool according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the tool of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top end view of the tool as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view of the tool of FIG. 2 partially broken away;

FIG. 5 illustrates the cross section of a deformable tube after beingreformed in the die of the tool of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the tool of FIG. 1 in its tube shut-offconfiguration; and

FIG. 7 is a side view, partially broken away, of a tool constructedaccording to another embodiment of the present invention wherein ahydraulic actuator assembly is utilized as the tool closing means.

With reference now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1,there is shown a deformable tube crimping and reforming tool 11 having abarrel member 13 with a wall 15 including a first end 17 and an oppositesecond end 19. An inner reforming die 21, having a die surface 23, ismounted on the barrel member 13 adjacent the first end 17 and extendsradially outward in a first plane (not shown). An inner crimping jawmember having a beveled jaw surface 27 is also mounted on the barrelmember 13, spaced from the first end 17 and extends radially outward ina second plane (not shown), which may be at any angle with respect tothe first plane except that if the planes coincide, then the die and jawmembers must extend in opposite directions. The latter case is thepresently preferred configuration and is shown in all the figures.Further, the barrel member 13 includes a slot 29 in its wall 15. Theslot lies in the second plane, common with the jaw member 25 and extendsfrom the first end 17 to the jaw 25.

Slidably mounted in the barrel member 13 is a shaft member 31 having athird end 33 and an opposite fourth end 35 (see FIG. 4). An outerreforming die 37, having a die surface 39, is mounted adjacent the thirdend 33 and extends radially outwardly therefrom in the first plane andan outer crimping jaw 41, having a beveled jaw surface 43, is alsomounted on the shaft member 31 and extends radially outward in thesecond plane. The jaw 41 extends through and is slidably guided by theslot 29 in the wall 15 in order to maintain alignment in the same planeof the jaw members and similarly maintains alignment of the reformingdies in the first plane.

The associated die and jaw members are forced toward each other byclosing means, generally designated by reference numeral 45, which mayinclude a nut 47 threadably engaging a threaded portion 49 (see FIG. 4)adjacent the fourth end 35 of the shaft member 31. Also included is aload bearing washer 50 and a thrust washer 51 disposed between the nut47 and the second end 19 of the barrel member 13. To lessen the distancebetween these associated parts, the nut 47 may be rotated in a clockwisedirection (for a right-handed threaded portion 49) by means of aleverage device such as a conventional wrench 53 having a handle 55 anda ratchet-held socket 57 engaging the nut 47. Of course, the dies andjaws may be allowed to be moved apart by reversing the direction of nut47 rotation.

A means for holding the tool 11 in a desired position may also beprovided. Such a handle may include an indexing collar assembly 59slidably mounted over the barrel member 15 adjacent the second end. Thebarrel member accordingly may include four or more symmetricallydisposed round apertures 61 spaced from the second end 19 directlybeneath an indexing collar member 63 as seen in FIG. 4, for example. Thecollar member 63 includes an internally threaded nipple or sleeve 65attached to and radially protruding from the member 63, centrally overan aperture 67 therein. A handle member 69 having a reduced diameterchamfered pin end 71 and a threaded portion 73 adjacent the end 71 isthreadably engaged in the sleeve 65 so that this chamfered end may bescrewed into any of the apertures 61. However, the length of the end 71extending through these apertures is restricted so that the shaft member31 is not contacted even though the handle member 69 is screwed in asfar as it will go. Thus, any of four or more radial positions of thehandle may be used by rotating the handle 69 into an appropriateindexing aperture 61 as, for example, seen in FIGS. 2 and 6.

With reference to FIG. 2, the tool of FIG. 1 is shown holding apreviously crimped deformable tube or pipe 101 between the flat, roughlyV-shaped die surfaces 23 and 39 of the dies 21 and 37. As can be seenmore clearly in FIG. 1, these die surfaces have centrally disposedchannels 103 and 105 therein to facilitate the gripping of the edges ofthe flattened or crimped portion 107 of the tube 101.

Although not clearly indicated in the drawings, it is preferred that thejaw surfaces 27 and 43, respectively, of the jaw members 25 and 41 beslightly inclined with respect to each other and not parallel prior tothe actual crimping operation. This is desired because as pressure isapplied to close the jaws on a tube to be crimped, the shaft member 31will be deflected slightly in the barrel member 13 away from barrelcarried jaw 25. If no allowance for this spring-back action is provided,the edges of the jaw surfaces 27 and 43 will not be parallel when thetube 101 is being crimped. This, of course, would not be necessary ifthere were absolutely no play between the shaft and barrel members, butsuch play generally must be provided in order to maintain a slidablerelationship between these members. As noted previously, the jaws aremaintained in a common plane alignment by the jaw guiding slot 29 in thebarrel member 13 as can further be seen from the top end view shown inFIG. 3 and from the elevation view of FIG. 6. Inclining, for example,the inner jaw 25 at 89 30 with the axis of the barrel member 13 has beenfound to be satisfactory, but other inclination angles may be used.

A more detailed view of the tool 11 is presented in the cross sectionalview of FIG. 4. For example, the inter-relationship of the various partsof the indexing collar assembly 59 are shown including the preferredchamfered indexing pin end 71 and the indexing apertures 61. Also shownis the relationship of the several elements making up the closing means45. Further, this view shows the tube 101 after it has been reformed bythe closing of the jaws 21 and 37, in contrast to its crimpedconfiguration as seen in FIG. 2, prior to this jaw action. It will benoted in this figure, as well as the enlarged cross sectional view ofthe tube 101 seen in FIG. 5, that the tube 101 is not reformed to itsoriginal circular configuration. The pinched sides 151 at the formerlycrimped portion 107 remain creased by the action of the channels 103 and105 in order to prevent tube cracking at these points because of thesharp bends that have stressed the material of the tube 101 beyond theelastic limit. If this were not done, the tube would at least beweakened at these points, leading to possible failure to the tube walldue to corrosion and/or fatigme.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 7. Here, atool 201 includes a barrel member 203 similar to the barrel member 13 ofthe previously described embodiment of the invention. This membertherefore also includes an inner die 205, an inner jaw 207, and a slot209 in the plane of the jaw 207. Within the barrel member 203 isslidably disposed a shaft member 211 also similar to the shaft member 31and including an outer die 213 and an outer jaw 215.

The barrel member 203 here includes a lower threaded outer portion 217threadably engaging a threaded aperture 219 disposed in an upper surface221 of a housing 223 of a conventional hydraulic actuator assembly 225.The housing 223 contains a fluid actuated piston 227 having a hollowstem portion 229 slidably held between an inner cylindrical tube 231 anda lower housing aperture 233. The tube 231 is attached to an innerhousing aperture 235, coaxially extensive with the threaded aperture219. Slidably held within the cylindrical tube 231 is a reduced diameterportion 237 of the shaft member 211.

The shaft portion 237 has a threaded end portion 239 that is coupled tothe hollow stem portion 229 of the piston 227 by means of a nut 241 andan annular end fixture 243 held between the nut 241 and the stem 229.

The piston 227 travels axially within a cylinder cavity 245 in thehousing 223 as guided by the cylindrical tube 231, and the cavity 245 isprovided with a passage 247 for fluid communication between an opening249 in the housing 223 and the cavity 245. In operation, a conventionalhydraulic pump (not shown) is coupled to the opening 249 and hydraulicfluid 251 is forced, under pressure, int-o the cavity 245. The increasedfluid pressure causes the piston 2.27 to move away from the passage 247,carrying with it the reduced diameter portion 237 of the shaft member211. This in effect moves the shaft member 211 in relation to the barrelmember in a direction to lessen the distance between the associated dieand jaw members to either crimp a tube 253 as shown or reform a tubethat had been previously crimped by placing it between the die members.The dies and jaws may easily be released merely by relieving the fluidpressure at the pump, for example.

The material used in fabricating the tools 11 and 201 is not critical.Any material known to be generally suitable in the field for similarapplications may be used. For example, the barrel members may be of agrade 4130 alloy steel, the shaft members and jaws of a chromemolybdenum E4130, the dies C1015 C.R., and the handles of cold-finishedsteel shafting C1018. The presently preferred method of attaching thedies and jaws to the barrel and shaft members is by heliarc welding forobvious reasons.

While only a limited number of embodiments have been disclosed herein,it will readily be apparent to persons skilled in the art that numerouschanges and modifications may be made thereto without departing from thespirit of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure anddescription thereof are for illustrative purposes only and do not limitthe scope of, the invention which are defined only by the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is:

1. A deformable tube crimping and reforming tool, comprising:

a barrel member having opposite first and second ends and having aninner reforming die adjacent said first end and extending radiallyoutward therefrom in a first plane and also having an inner crimping jawspaced from said first end and extending radially outward therefrom in asecond plane, said barrel member further including a slot in the wallthereof in said second plane and extending from said first end to saidinner jaw;

a shaft member slidably mounted in said barrel member and havingopposite third and fourth ends, said shaft member also having an outerreforming die adjacent said third end and extending radially outwardtherefrom in said first plane and further having an outer crimping jawextending radially outward therefrom in said second plane, said outerjaw extending through and slidably guided by said slot in said barrelmember; and

closing means coupled to said second end of said barrel member and tosaid fourth end of said shaft member for forcing said barrel member andsaid shaft member to slide in relationship to each other in a direc- 5tion lessening the distance between said dies and said aws.

2. A deformable tube crimping and reforming tool according to claim 1,wherein said inner and outer dies have complimentary tube opening diesurfaces, and wherein said inner and outer jaws have complimentary tubeclosing die surfaces.

3. A deformable tube crimping and reforming tool according to claim 2,wherein there is also included handle means including an indexing collarassembly slidably 15 mounted over said barrel member adjacent saidsecond end for holding said tool in a desired relationship to adeformable tube.

4. A deformable tube crimping and reforming tool according to claim 3,wherein said fourth end of said shaft member is threaded and saidclosing means includes a nut in threaded engagement with said threadedfourth end of said shaft member, said closing means also including atleast one thrust washer disposed about said shaft member between saidsecond end of said barrel member and said nut.

5. A deformable tube crimping and reforming tool according to claim 2,wherein said closing means includes a hydraulic actuator assembly havinga housing and a fluid actuated piston, said housing being coupled tosaid second end of said barrel member and said piston being coupled tosaid fourth end of said shaft member.

6. A deformable tube crimping and reforming tool according to claim 2,wherein said barrel member includes four symmetrically spaced apertures,spaced from said second end and wherein said handle means also includesa handle member and said indexing collar assembly includes a threadedsleeve radially protruding from said collar, the inner portion of saidsleeve communicating with an aperture in the wall of said collar, saidhandle member having a reduced diameter chamfered pin end and a threadedsection adjacent said pin end and threadably engaging said threadedsleeve, said pin end being insertable in any of said four apertures insaid barrel member by rotation of said handle member but not to thedepth that would engage said shaft member.

7. A deformable tube crimping and reforming tool according to claim 2,wherein there is provided a relative inclination between saidcomplimentary tube closing die surfaces prior to a crimping operation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1967 Gill 72-404 1/1964 Graven72404 M. .T. KEENAN, Assistant Examiner US. 01. X.R.

